Like most girls, after seeing the wizard of oz I have wanted my very own ruby slippers. If you share the same desire, I have good news! Here is a quick, clean and easy tutorial to help you get just that.

What you will need:

Ballet Flats

Masking tape

Glitter

Glossy Mod podge

Paint brush

Disposable container or tray

Step 1. The first thing you need to do is find a pair of shoes that you would like to cover in glitter. Note that you get better results from using something made of a firm material over something soft and flimsy. In my case I have decided to use an old pair of vinyl ballet flats. Although Dorothy had bows on her shoes I’m going to remove the bows for this project.

Step 2. With masking tape, protect the lining, sole and any other part of the shoe that you don’t want covered in glitter.

Step 3. Grab a disposable container or tray and squeeze some mod podge onto it. Don’t make too much since you will be applying the mix to the shoes in layers. Pour and mix in the glitter depending on how much coverage you wan’t. Remember, you don’t want the mixture to feel like crunchy peanut butter, try to make a smooth paste.

Step 4. Using a paint brush, dab the glitter mix onto your shoes. Let the layer dry before adding another, you will be able to tell when it is dry as mod podge goes on white and turns clear. I removed and reapplied the masking tape after applying each layer of glitter but if you think that that is too time consuming you can choose to leave the masking tape on till the very end and file off any unwanted excess that has dried between the shoe and masking tape.Step 5. When you are happy with the coverage of your shoe, seal the glitter by painting on a layer of pure mod podge. To cover my black ballet flats I did a total of 3 layers, 4 including the final seal. When the final layer has dried remove the masking tape from your ballet flats.

I picked this large shirt up from an op shop a while ago, it was only $1 and I liked the fabric so i thought ‘why not’. As much as I like oversized shirts I figured it was time I turned it into something more fitting…

What you will need:

Large collared shirt
Scissors
Sewing Pins
Sewing Machine
Iron

Step 1.Put the oversized shirt on inside out. With sewing pins, mark where your waist is (A) and where your arm holes and sides (B) are located. With a pen or pencil, trace the shape leaving a seam allowance of at least 1cm.

Step 2. With a scissors cut along line A and B. You should now have the following pieces:

Step 3. With the shirt inside out, sew the side seams connecting the front and back together again.

Step 4. You can add darts to make the top more fitted. As you can see in the diagram below, the point of the dart is located just below the breast and runs all the way down to the waist. Put the top on inside out for an accurate placement and once again, pin and trace where the dart will go.

Step 5. To sew the dart pinch line A and C together so that they meet and align perfectly. While still pinching pull line B in. Sew along line A&C on the inside of your garment.

Step 6. To get a perfect arm hole, sew 1cm into your garment following the circumference. Remember, you do not need to attach or fold anything at this point as this stitch is just a marker.

Step 7. At the marker stitch, fold the edge of the arm hole in while ironing to keep it in place. You will notice that the stitch will make it easier to maintain the shape of the arm hole.

Once you have ironed all around the arm hole, sew the fold in place.

Step 8. Now it is time to attach the skirt. As you can see, the top is now considerably smaller than the bottom. The first thing you need to do is align the button holes and the buttons by pinning the top and bottom together into place. The next things you need to align are the side seams. Gather all the excess in between the seams and pin into place. Make sure that the button holes, buttons and 2 side seams align perfectly.

Fold the top onto the bottom so that the right sides are facing in. Sew along the waistline that you just pinned to complete the garment.Ta-da!

Step 1. To make one coaster that is 10cm in diameter, you will need 14 strips of fabric that are 2.5cm in width (a seam allowance of 5 mm has already been added) and at least 11cm in length.

Steps 2 – 6 need to be repeated as 7 strips will be used to make the front of the coaster and the 7 remaining strips will be used to make the back of the coaster.

Step 2. Put two strips of fabric together with the right sides facing in. With your sewing machine sew along one of the edges.

Step 3. Open the connected strips like a book and attach a third piece along one of the edges and sew. When this is done connect a fourth strip onto the third strip and then carry on doing the same until you have attached the seven strips onto each other. This is what it should look like from the back.

Step 4. Lay the connected strips flat and iron on the wrong side of the fabric. To keep this piece tidy, make sure you iron all the seams to one direction as pictured below.

Step 5. Trace a circle 10cm in diameter onto your interfacing. For this step you can use a compass or in my case I found the lid of a Hershey’s Kisses tin was the perfect size. I’m sure you can find circular objects around the house if you don’t have a compass either.

Cut the circle out of your interfacing and iron onto the back of your strips. This will make your coaster more rigid.

Step 6. Cut along the outline of the interfacing. You should end up with a neat circle, the front being your fabric strips and the back being interfacing.

Step 7. As noted in the beginning of the tutorial, repeat steps 2 through to 6 in order to produce a front and back for your coasters. Once this is done, attach the two circles together with the interfacing facing inwards. Sew along the circumference of the coaster closely to the edge so that the stitch can be covered by the bias binding.

Step 8. You will need a strip of bias binding that is approximately 32cm in length. Wrap the bias binding around the edge of your coaster and sew. This finishing touch will hide the rough edges and prevent your coaster from fraying.

Bravo!

You have one coaster… now make 5 more 😉 Remember to keep all your scraps from this project, you never know when they’ll come in handy!

Step 1. Using the pattern provided find the appropriate sized scrap felt/fabric and cut out all the different pieces.

Step 2. With craft glue, attach piece D onto piece B. When they are dry, glue them onto piece A as shown.

Step 3. Piece E is glued on like so.

Step 4. Hand sew the features on the face leaving enough room for the hair. The cheeks can be made using piece G or they too can be hand stitched. Note: This part requires a lot of care and patience if you are using piece G therefore hand stitching the cheeks may be an easier alternative.

Step 5. Using a little bit of glue attach the face (H) onto the body followed by the hair (C) and then the scarf knot (F).

Step 6. Use a running stitch to further secure all the pieces and add detail to the brooch. Follow the figure below.

Step 7. Fasten the brooch pin to the right side of piece I using glue and/or thread. This is the back of the brooch.

Step 8. Put the front and back together and secure using a blanket stitch. Use double thread to make stronger, more eye catching detail.

Step 1. Decide what size triangle you would like and then using a pencil and ruler, rule up a template on a piece of A4 paper. Add a seam allowance of 5mm around your triangle (or more depending on how big your triangle is). Cut the template out.

Step 2. Pin the template onto your fabric. Cut out the number of triangles you need x2 as you will need a front and back for every flag (i.e. for 12 flags you will need 24 triangles).

Step 3. With the right side of the fabric facing in, sew along the seam allowance on the longest sides of the triangles.

Step 5. Through the open edge, pull the triangle pockets inside out to reveal the right side of the fabric. All seam lines should now be hidden.

Step 6. Cut away any unwanted thread and excess fabric. Iron your flags so they are nice and flat.

Step 7. To make the line cut a piece of fabric that is 4cm wide and however long you require it to be. Fold the line in half lengthwise and iron. When a clear crease is created, open the line back up and fold the outside edges into the middle as pictured below and iron again.

Step 8. Pin the flags to the line so that the open edge is on the centre crease. When you are happy with the alignment, sew along the line to attach the flags.

Hello! For my first post EVER I’m going to give you a tutorial on how to make a little felt deer.

What you will need:

Deer Pattern

Felt (3 colours)

Scissors

Hand Sewing Needle

Thread
Wadding (Stuffing)

Craft Glue

Step 1. Cut out the felt pieces following the pattern provided. The pattern is for a deer that is approximately 12 cm tall. Simply shrink or enlarge the pattern to accommodate your needs.

Step 2. Stitch the two tail pieces together then stitch the Inner body to the Outer body as shown below. You can use an ordinary running stitch but to add some extra detailing I have decided to use a blanket stitch.Step 3. Stitch the two outer body pieces together, starting at the end of the last stitch shown in step 2 (the deer’s chest). At the tail point fold the tail in half lengthwise and add it to the body, stitching over it until you reach the first stitch shown in step 2 (the deer’s rear).

Step 4. Fill the deer with wadding through the opening at the inner body. Use a chopstick or something similar to gently push the wadding down the legs and neck. Take a considerable amount of care at this step as felt can be very fragile and you want your deer to be evenly padded. When you have completed this, stitch the deer closed.

Step 5. Stitch the head pieces to the centre head, starting at the tip of the nose and ending at the neck. Fill the head with wadding.

Step 6. Put some glue at the tip of the neck on both the body and head. Place the neck inside the head, higher if you want a short deer and lower if you want a tall deer. When you have decided on the placement, stitch the head closed starting from the neck and ending at the tip of the nose.

Step 7. With glue, add the ears, eyes, nose and any other desired details such as body spots.To personalise your felt deer you can use other materials such as putting lace or ribbon around the neck and/or using sequins for the spots. It’s up to you how creative you want to be!
Voila!